Stanford 2012-2013...a wind of change

With their two top players (Klahn and Thacher) graduating and turning pro this year, Stanford is left with.... no one really to take the first spot. That's a scary thought since in recent years either Klahn or Clayton were strong #1 for their team.

I see four freshmen coming in this year: Maciek Romanowicz, Nolan Paige, Trey Strobel and Anthony Tsodikov. I don't know much of any of them except that they were the ones who made the cut in terms of grades (in the classroom at least ).

What do you guys think? Are any of these young guns really good? Who's going to lead the pack this year? (Please don't tell me Kandath....)

I saw Morrisey played KU today, and even though he lost, he was playing great. Every single serving game from KU would seem to go at least two or three deuce points and Morrisey was fighting in every point. Is he a number 1 that can take on Frank or Domijian? Probably not, but he would be a very solid 1 that will win plenty of matches against the 2nd tier No. 1 players

Morrissey came very highly regarded. Many experts predicted his pro potential as well, of course not at this point in his career. but many predicted he would improve every year and in 3-4 years, he would be good enough to turn pro. so yea, he will be very good #1 in NCAA very soon.

This is Straight off the Facebook fan page. Not sure who the author is but he is very accurate: well,,except the professional part.

Biography

John Morrissey is a professional tennis player from Ireland who has the most impressive forehand known to man. Born in Dublin in 1992, Morrissey picked up the racket at an early age and began to lay down the law on fools asses who thought they had game. Like a boss he took to the court like a natural. His first serve ever is reported to have impregnated his coach - and his coach was a man! He bec
ame well known throughout the ranks for his devilishly good looks that seduced many, many naked Spanish women. At the age of 15 he was banned from competing in Ireland on account of him "being too impressive". Determined to become even more impressive, Morrissey travelled to the US to train. While there, Time magazine named him "the best hung man in tennis". Upon returning Morrissey represented Ireland at the Olympics and tore **** up! He is currently based in Ireland and is still kicking ass while attending Gonzaga College. At the moment Morrisey is training using an unusual program he designed himself called "the extended sauna". He loves it.

Morrissey does look good. I saw him play a couple matches last season and he looked solid, good game, pretty strong mentally. I hope he can step up as #1. It's not an easy task but I was sure he was going to be #1 at some point....didn't think it would have to happen so quickly!

Anyone saw Paige play? I read some interesting comments about him, here's one off youtube:

"played him about 4 years ago in a local tournament. he beat me pretty badly, but the one thing not many people realize about his game is that he has some of the best hands i've ever seen. uncanny, unorthodox... reminded me of mcenroe "

and another one:
"I play this guy a few years back and was supposed to win, as in he was playing up a division and he didn't have the ranking he does now, but I dropped a close first set and was blitzed in the second. Very frustrating to play and much better than he looks. His feel around the court is something his peers don't have. It's frightening. "

After looking at the small sample size of Fall play so far, this is my projected lineup for the Cards this year.
1. Morrissey
2. Kandath
3. Ho
4. Paige
5. Stineman
6. Ball

It looks like Lin has fallen off the face of the earth after looking at the results this weekend. No clue on the doubles but this could be a year where my Cards are scratching to get in the tournament.

Anyone saw Paige play? I read some interesting comments about him, here's one off youtube:

"played him about 4 years ago in a local tournament. he beat me pretty badly, but the one thing not many people realize about his game is that he has some of the best hands i've ever seen. uncanny, unorthodox... reminded me of mcenroe "

and another one:
"I play this guy a few years back and was supposed to win, as in he was playing up a division and he didn't have the ranking he does now, but I dropped a close first set and was blitzed in the second. Very frustrating to play and much better than he looks. His feel around the court is something his peers don't have. It's frightening. "

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what you have to understand is that words like this have been said about EVERY player for a major conference school. Wherever they are from they were the bigtime there and got heaps of praise. Well in college all of the "the best I have seen's" are thrown in together.

Paige is good ,he's so smart and his tennis IQ is tops.. he's a good size kid physically,but he doesn't seem to last .. the grind of D1 Pac 12 tennis will most likely burn him out and/or his body will break down... I appreciate his type of tennis ,he reminds me of the ''big cat'' ,Mecir ..

After looking at the small sample size of Fall play so far, this is my projected lineup for the Cards this year.
1. Morrissey
2. Kandath
3. Ho
4. Paige
5. Stineman
6. Ball

It looks like Lin has fallen off the face of the earth after looking at the results this weekend. No clue on the doubles but this could be a year where my Cards are scratching to get in the tournament.

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Interesting. Where did you see them play?

I think that Lin has gone backwards for about a year.... he used to be a strong #3, but right now it's difficult to see him better than 5 or 6. I'm not sure Ho is that high....

My take: Morrissey should be 1 or 2. Paige should be 3 or 4. Ho is a strong 5 or 6. Stineman is a good 4 or 5. I don't see Ball making the cut. I wonder where the other new recruits stand. I have a feeling Romanowicz might compete with Paige for #3 or 4 spot. Based on Kandath recent results I don't see him on the 3 main Taube courts...

Denis Lin hurt his knee (kneecap?) in a bicycle accident during the indoor season last year and never really regained his form. I would think he would be able to regain form by this spring. He has a style that is better for doubles than singles, and should probably be in the starting doubles lineup.

Denis Lin hurt his knee (kneecap?) in a bicycle accident during the indoor season last year and never really regained his form. I would think he would be able to regain form by this spring. He has a style that is better for doubles than singles, and should probably be in the starting doubles lineup.

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good info, I didn't know that and that could explain his poor form last season. Thanks for sharing.

a bunch of these guys should be playing ""battle in the bay"" this weekend ,go watch and see how they do against USC's young lineup ... it should interesting to see who's who and compare them ..

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that should be a really interesting battle indeed.... unfortunately I won't be able to go and watch the matches. Anyone going there, please report and if you can bring some vids of the some of the matches involving Stanford players.

''battle in the bay'' Stanford got cleaned out in singles play..3 USC boys are in the semis.. the #1 USC seed lost early .. I was looking forwards to a USC/Stanford showdown .. too bad it didn't happen..

just saying.. I pretty sure Wang is not gonna beat Paige 0 and 1.. and I saw Johnson going 3 sets with Tsodikov in the past... I just hope Paige finds his comfort zone because I like watching him play as a junior ,but college tennis is a whole lot different ..

just saying.. I pretty sure Wang is not gonna beat Paige 0 and 1.. and I saw Johnson going 3 sets with Tsodikov in the past... I just hope Paige finds his comfort zone because I like watching him play as a junior ,but college tennis is a whole lot different ..

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Johnson at totally different level this year, he blew through the draw and won singles and dubs.

What happened to Denis Lin ? He is still one of the best players on the team and yet he hasn't seen action in several months. His injury from last year must be better by now unless he has new set of injuries. anyway, here are some action shots of new stock of boys.

All freshmen played yesterday. Pretty good display from them, and a good solid win by Morrissey at #1.

Whit will pull his hair after Kandath's poor display at #2... I guess Kandath at #1 is out of the question for the rest of season unless something really unexpected happens.

Taken from Stanford tennis page:

Jan. 15, 2013

STANFORD, Calif.- No. 10 Stanford blanked Sacramento State 7-0 on Tuesday afternoon at Taube Family Tennis Stadium in the season opener for both teams.

Stanford (1-0) captured the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead before sweeping all six singles matches. Three Cardinal freshmen picked up victories in their first career dual match at the Nos. 3-5 positions of the lineup.

Leading 1-0, John Morrissey cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory on court one. Morrissey is Stanford's lone nationally-ranked singles player, checking in at No. 39.

After Robert Stineman secured a 6-3, 6-1 win at the No. 6 spot, Nolan Paige provided the clincher with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph at the No. 3 position.

Stanford is back in action this weekend, making an appearance in the Sherwood Cup at Thousand Oaks, Calif.

All freshmen played yesterday. Pretty good display from them, and a good solid win by Morrissey at #1.

Whit will pull his hair after Kandath's poor display at #2... I guess Kandath at #1 is out of the question for the rest of season unless something really unexpected happens.

Taken from Stanford tennis page:

Jan. 15, 2013

STANFORD, Calif.- No. 10 Stanford blanked Sacramento State 7-0 on Tuesday afternoon at Taube Family Tennis Stadium in the season opener for both teams.

Stanford (1-0) captured the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead before sweeping all six singles matches. Three Cardinal freshmen picked up victories in their first career dual match at the Nos. 3-5 positions of the lineup.

Leading 1-0, John Morrissey cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory on court one. Morrissey is Stanford's lone nationally-ranked singles player, checking in at No. 39.

After Robert Stineman secured a 6-3, 6-1 win at the No. 6 spot, Nolan Paige provided the clincher with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph at the No. 3 position.

Stanford is back in action this weekend, making an appearance in the Sherwood Cup at Thousand Oaks, Calif.

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This Sherwood cup should give us a good picture about pac-12. USC and UCLA will be there as well as Baylor. we will see how the freshmen and sophomores from Stanford perform against experienced UCLA and USC players. If they are competitive and pull off some upsets, we will see a good competitive Stanford team this year.